254. The Croods 2 - A New Age; movie review

 

THE CROODS 2 - A NEW AGE

Cert U

96 mins

BBFC advice: Contains very mild comic violence, threat, injury detail, rude humour

Back in 2013, I wrote: "I suspect I may not laugh in my entire 50th birthday week as much as Mrs W and I did last night while watching The Croods."

Therefore, I had rare anticipation for the follow-up to the hilarious debut.

Facing such a high bar, it narrowly failed to match its predecessor but The Croods 2 was, nevertheless, one of the merriest movies of a bleak 2021 so far.

I advise catching up with the original before watching the sequel because it picks up where the last one left off.

Young caveman, Guy (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) is in search of a land called 'Tomorrow' following the demise of his parents.

Soon he bumps into the Croods and becomes besotted with their daughter Eep (Emma Stone) much to the disgruntlement of her dad (Nicolas Cage) who fears that they might split from his beloved pack

This fear becomes intensified when they discover land which has been cultivated by a family called the Bettermans (Leslie Mann and Peter Dinklage)

They have developed the pre-historic world in much the same way that the Flintstones and Rubbles did in dear old Bedrock.

So, the cultures of the well-to-do pair and their daughter (Kelly Marie Tran) clash with the rather more earthy Croods.

But what you really want to know is did we laugh?

Oh, yes. Five times! This is more than during any film that we have seen since lockdown although not as many as during the original.

I especially loved the way the Croods all sleep in a big heap but there are many more gags.

Was it a worthy sequel? Yes. It is imaginative and vibrant. The whole family will enjoy it and it is a really promising directorial debut by Joel Crawford.

Reasons to watch: Vibrant and funny

Reasons to avoid: An old theme

Laughs: Five

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 8/10

Did you know? The Croods 2 marks the longest wait for a DreamWorks Animation movie’s sequel to date, releasing seven and a half years after The Croods (2013), surpassing the five-year gap between the first two Kung Fu Panda movies.

The final word. Joel Crawford: "There’s a version of the sequel that existed but never really got off the ground.  I came on, must’ve been 3 years ago, and we hit the ground running! The studio and everyone involved was excited about making it, so it’s been pretty much “go” since then."

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